


Underwater

by TheDarkChocolateLord



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Maruca deserves more pagetime, let the keeper kids be kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29349591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkChocolateLord/pseuds/TheDarkChocolateLord
Summary: While playing base quest against Fitz and Biana, Maruca and Keefe have a new strategy to try.
Relationships: Keefe Sencen & Maruca Chebota, Maruca Chebota & Biana Vacker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	Underwater

"Strategy?" Keefe whispered. "Do you want to quest or be sentry?"

Maruca scanned their surroundings.

Their boundaries for base quest were the glowing fence to their left and the lake to their right. The field was mostly open; the scattered trees wouldn't provide much cover, and Fitz and Biana's base was the wooden dock of the lake, which was in a wide clearing. They'd be easily seen.

"Is the far shore or near shore of the lake our boundary?"

Keefe shrugged. "No one specified. Why?"

"You okay with being sentry?" Maruca yanked off her boots. "I'm going to swim." Her socks were quick to follow, leaving her in her tunic and pants.

Keefe's eyebrows jumped an inch, but his trademark smirk was soon back on his face. "Heck yes. How long do you think it'll take you?" 

Maruca scanned the expanse of water. "Four minutes."

Keefe grinned. "Awesome. I can keep them distracted, it's a good thing I—"

"Are you ready?" Fitz yelled from the dock.

"Bring it on!" Maruca shouted, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer to Keefe's sentence. It didn't matter, anyway, as she was already racing for the water.

She was in the lake in seconds, the water colder than she had expected and her outfit dragging her down, but it wasn't going to stop her. When the lake was waist-high, she took a huge breath and dove under.

The water was a hazy green-gray blur, and Maruca didn't know how she was going to make out the dock once she reached it. She ignored that for now, focusing on making each stroke precise, each kick more powerful, going into deeper and deeper water so she stayed unseen. 

Shouting and chaos came ahead and to her left, and she stayed on course, knowing that Keefe's distraction was keeping Fitz and Biana at bay. It sounded distant, like her friends were in some other world, like it was just her and various plants and animals.

If it was just her, nobody would be staring at her because she was Biana's best friend and they wanted that place to be theirs. Nobody would be staring at her because they  _ thought  _ that place should be theirs, because Maruca's moms were  _ Talentless _ , and really, why would a Vacker hang out with someone like  _ that _ ?

In some ways, being Biana's best friend was a shield; the child of two Talentless elves would be teased, while Biana's best friend was seen as  _ almost  _ as cool as Biana herself.

It was always  _ almost _ . The attention was never for her, the admiration was never for her. Though, to be fair, Maruca wasn't sure if the attention and admiration were for Biana herself or for 'the youngest Vacker'. 

Still, Maruca wasn't sure if Biana was going to ditch her if a cooler girl ever came along, one with noble parents, one who had manifested already, one who was a 'better fit' for a bearer of the Vacker name…..

The posts of the dock came into view, and she snapped out of her thoughts, swimming even faster until she reached the ladder. Within moments, she was on the dock.

"Hi, Fitz."

Fitz whirled around from his post as sentry on the land end of the dock, jaw open in shock. Across the field, Keefe cheered so loudly he probably broke the sound barrier, while Maruca could just make out disbelief on Biana's face.

"Maruca?" Fitz gasped. "You–you  _ swam _ ?"

"Yeah."

"That's amazing," Biana yelled as she raced over. 

Keefe punched the air. "Victory is ours!"

Maruca's smile was so wide that she didn't know when it would stop—she didn't  _ want  _ it to stop. "Thanks."

"Do you guys want to have a rematch?" Fitz asked. "On land this time."

"I say the lake is fair game," Keefe shrugged. 

"What about underwater base quest?" Maruca suggested, twisting her tunic to wring the water out of it. It didn't work. "You pick bases on opposite sides of the lake and the boundary is the water."

"We should  _ totally  _ do that," Fitz nodded. "Does next Saturday work? It'll be warmer by then."

"Definitely," Keefe grinned. 

"Two in the afternoon?" Biana offered.

"Sure," Maruca agreed. She glanced at the sky; the sun was sinking lower. "I have to be home soon, though—I told my moms that I'd only be here for an hour."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Biana smiled as Maruca took out her home crystal. "Good luck on your history test!"

Maruca smiled back at her friend— _ her friend _ , regardless of what any stuffy nobles had to say about it. "Thanks—see you then."

  
  
  
  



End file.
